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Summary

Independent researchers interview urban middle school students to get their impressions of the teachers that help them to succeed in schools.

According to the many student voices in this book, urban middle school students want teachers who "stay on them" to complete their work, maintain orderly classrooms, give them the extra help they need to succeed, explain their work clearly, draw on a variety of teaching strategies, and make their work relevant and meaningful. This book, rich in detail, brings these inner-city students' perspectives to life and issues a compelling call for urban school reform that actually touches students' daily lives.

"This book provides a cogent argument for including urban students in the dialogue on urban school reform. The students, because of their insider status, offer clear, specific views concerning those conditions that foster and hinder their learning. The students' suggestions warrant serious attention by those who are genuinely concerned about improving the quality of education in urban schools."  Grace Cureton Stanford, The Pennsylvania State University

"This book persuasively makes the case for--and uses effectively--student perspective as a key component of school reform. The implications for change of teachers' practice and for school reform in general are unmistakable and compelling."  Gil Schmerler, Bank Street College of Education

Bruce L. Wilson and H. Dickson Corbett are both independent educational researchers and coauthors of Testing, Reform, and Rebellion. Wilson is coauthor of Mandating Academic Excellence: High School Responses to State Curriculum Reform, with Gretchen B. Rossman and Successful Secondary Schools: Visions of Excellence in American Public Education, with Thomas B. Corcoran; and Corbett is coauthor of School Context and School Change: Implications for Effective Planning, with Judith A. Dawson and William A Firestone and Change and Effectiveness in Schools: A Cultural Perspective, with Gretchen B. Rossman and William A. Firestone, also published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

One

INTRODUCTION

The Reform Context Students as Useful Windows through Which to View Reform Overview of the Study and Its Participants The Student Sample and Interview Strategy The School Sites Other Considerations in Reading This Book

Two

CHANGES IN STUDENTS’ SCHOOL LIVES OVER THREE YEARS

Changes in Plans for the FutureChanges in the SchoolsMore and/or Harder WorkDifferent Student Behavior Small Learning CommunitiesChanges in Classroom Experiences Multiple or Long-term Replacement TeachersDisruptive Classrooms“Support Scarce” ClassroomsA Need to Scale Up within Schools

Three

PEDAGOGICAL, CONTENT, AND CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENCES WITHIN AND ACROSS FIVE SCHOOLS

Pedagogical Differences—The Case of Science Content Differences—The Case of English Classroom Environment Differences—Two ExamplesSchool #1: Two Teachers on the Same Team School #4: A Comparison between Students’ Initial Teacher and a Replacement Students Focused on Instructional, Rather Than Personal, Style

Four

THE TEACHERS STUDENTS WANTED

Three Teachers Students PraisedQualities Students Wanted Their Teachers to Have Valued Teachers Pushed Students to Complete Their Assignments Valued Teachers Maintained Order in the ClassroomValued Teachers Were Willing to HelpValued Teachers Went to Great Lengths to Explain a Topic UntilEveryone Understood ItValued Teachers Varied Classroom Activities Valued Teachers Respected Students, Related to Them, and Tried toUnderstand Their Worlds Behind the Actions: The Student–Teacher Relationship

Five

SPREADING THE POCKETS OF SUCCESS

A Brief Description of School #6Students’ Aspirations and Teachers’PreferencesPedagogical Differences—The Case of ScienceContent Differences—The Case of Writing and EnglishA Note on Mathematics Classroom Environment DifferencesEvidence of School EffectsStudents’ Perspectives on School #6 Student Performance Data Student Comparisons of School #6 with the Other Study Schools Student Talk and School Differences

Six

STUDENTS AND REFORM

Making Reform Noticeable Focus Professional Development on Adults’ Underlying Beliefs about a School’s Role in Supporting Student Learning Rather Than Discrete “Best Practices”Emphasize the Quality of the Relationships between Teachers and Students Changes in Student Performance Standards Must be Accompanied by the Creation of Standards for Pedagogy, Content, and Classroom Environment— and the Professional Development Necessary to Implement Them Connect Changes in Standards to Grades, Not Just to Performance on Large-scale AssessmentsCreate “Extra Help” Situations That Encompass All Students Who Need It, Not Just Those Students Who Avail Themselves of It Extend Extra Help Beyond School Work to How to Succeed in the Future Reforming with, Not for, Students